Jodi and Stu's Travel Blog

Hey there guys and girls! I am typing from our lovely hotel room in Treasure Island on the Las Vegas Strip!
We arrived today for our final part of the trip, crazy!
Since I last did a blog, we have been to San Diego Zoo (twice...) Sea World, San Diego Old Town, back up to LA and to 6 flags, Venice Beach and Santa Monica, and met up with our friends from the Kiwi experience for fun timesat their friends gig! (busy week!)
So just to clarify, we went to the zoo twice not because it was so good (although it was pretty cool, particularly the pandas!) but because the first day it rained like i have never seen rain before (and we're english!) We got soaked within about half an hour so decided to giv up cuz we were cold and miserable. The very nice people at the gate gave us a free pass to come back another day though so we got to see it in its full glory! and the weather has been awesome ever since so we won't be as pastey as i feared - thought all this money would have been wasted if my tan continued to fade!
Anyway, we are planning much fun times in Vegas and have sooo much to tell you anway. But we will be back on SUnday so i can tell you next week! awesome!
and about time too cuz we are now completely broke - drinks are on you guys!
See you soon!
love from the backpackers xxxx

ps. didn't i promise i would keep this going the whole trip?!

Hey there!
We are now in Hollywood! actually, we have been for a week but we have extremely rubbish internet facilities at the hostel so we have to find internet cafes!
Weather has been amazing so i am a very happy bunny. On our first day we did a cheesy Hollywood tour, complete with stars homes and also went to look at the stars and hand prints etc on the floor. Became involved in a slight run in between tour companies (much swearing and classic american references to the amendment allowing free speech) but, hey, that's LA and it all worked out in the end!
Then, the next day we went to Universal Studios and fulfilled a life long dream for Stu! We did the backlot tour and went on just about every single ride and tour (thankfully is still just about off season so queues weren't too bad) including Simpsons, Jurassic Park, Backdraft, Mummy returns..etc
Then, a day off to sunbathe and look around the local area (we had enough of that pretty quick, plenty of strange people in LA, particularly on the bus!)
Then, we went to Disneyland and fulfilled Jodi's dream of finally going in sleeping beauty's castle! yay! (it was closed when the Fenney's visited 13 years ago) It was all magical and Jodi spent an entire day being an overexcited child! Longer queues at Disney but we still managed an impressive amount of rides. Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean (which incidentally, has been redone to be more like the film, including lots of hidden Jack Sparrows in every scene!), Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain...we even went on it's a small world (actually the scariest ride i've ever been on, well freaky anyway!)
So yesterday, we headed down to Santa Monica, but unfortunately, the clouds followed us and we ended up looking slightly ridiculous in our beach stuff with everyone else in full on coats. It did actually get very cold, its amazing how quick the weather changes - we could actually see our breath! We got to go to Bubba Gump Shrimp and meet some crazy people on the bus though so not all bad!
The weather looked suspect today so we have decided to leave Venice Beach till next week when we return from San Diego - which is where we go tomorrow! San Diego Zoo and Sea World here we come! Not Mexico though, we were going to go in for the day but apparently there are gang wars and deaths have happened so all tours are canceled. Probably for the best! :S
Soo, we will speak to you soon, and infact we will be back in 16 days! crazy!
lots of love everyone xxxxx

Aloha! It is our last day in Hawaii now, off to LA tomorrow.
When we first got to Hawaii (a day late as mentioned grrr) the weather was pretty crappy and rainy. Also Waikiki was not quite as I (Jodi) imagined, i had much more romantic notions than the crowded city i arrived at! But, on closer inspection it is actually pretty damn cool and when the weather got hotter i definitely cheered up!
On our first few days around Waikiki we visited Pearl Harbour, explored Waikiki a bit and went on a tour of the Southern Beaches of Oahu. That was all pretty cool, we saw some beautiful beaches and views and some serious waves and blowholes in the rocks!
After a couple of days we headed off to Maui. Somehow we had booked onto the worlds earliest ferry - we had to get up at 4am! But after a taxi, a very choppy 4 hour boat (oh the sea sickness) a long walk (with backpacks) an hour long bus and finally another taxi (!!!) we arrived at our beautiful accommodation. It was very cool, cheesy Hawaiian decorations in the room and a gorgeous view out onto the gardens complete with fancy flowers and tropical birds, and behind the the sea and views of the other islands. Plus our own kitchen and bathroom! ooh the luxury!
The next two days involved much sunbathing and looking around the town, the home of America's largest Banyan tree. We also went to a Lu'au. It's a big traditional feast with entertainment (hula and the likes) and also included an open bar, yay! That was very cool and we got to see what a really fancy expensive Hawaiian resort was like for one night only!
So after a much too short trip in paradise, we came back to Waikiki, where the weather is lovely again. Tonight we are off for some cocktails overlooking the beach and then early to bed (its another v early start tomorrow!)
Love to everyone!
Jodi and Stu xxx

Hello!
We are back in Sydney airport having just left New Zealand. Got a couple of hours till we head off to Honolulu!!! yeah baby!
Well, we are here eventually...just had a small hiccup....you know, turning up a day late to the airport....anyone could have done it!!!
yes yes, laugh away all of you but it was very traumatic.
We had double and triple checked the time (especially after we were late that time in Australia) we just forgot to souble check the date! so we spent the afternoon on stand by and then had to make the sad journey back to Christchurch town centre to wait for our flight today! ah well, these things happen and in 12 hours we will be in hawaii. yay!
As it happens we were a little busy when we were supposed to be boarding the original flight, stu was undergoing a traditional New Zealand past time...guess what he did guys?!! no really guess, i'm not telling you hehe!
Tis very cool though.
Anywho, hope everyone is good at home, we love you all lots and look forward to seeing you in a month! Well looking forward to the people, maybe not coming home altogether...
loves!
Jodi xxx

aloho ha ha...aloho ha ha....just practicing my grass skirt wiggle....

Ok, so apologies for how exceptionally crap we have been at blogging in New Zealand. There is just so much going on!

Anyway, today is our last day, and tomorrow we have the worlds longest flight to Hawaii (its so long we actually end up arriving a day before we left - work that one out!)

I think we covered all of the North Island when we last blogged (and that was the short half of our NZ trip!)
Since then we have:
Spent a disgustingly short time in Wellington (v bitter about this, it looked fun but never mind)
Crossed the ferry to the South Island
Lost our friends in nelson (not literally, they just got on a diff bus for a bit)
Dressed up as pillows for the Poo pub party! awesome!
Got bed bugs and other diseases from said poo pub! not so awesome!
Done a full day hike over the Franz Josef Glacier (beautiful and magical but oh the blisters...)
Visited some very small "local" New Zealand places
Partied in Queenstown (when we were reunited with our friends, yay!)
Bungy Jumped (again), this time off the highest platform in Australasia (and one of the highest in the world)
Did a (pretty rubbishly) organised pub crawl in Queenstown (still fun, but where was the free food and pictures promised!!)
Seen some beautiful scenery on the 'Bottom Bus' part of our trip
Been a little bit bored on the 'Bottom Bus' part of our trip (theres only so much scenery we can take)
Saw seals, sealions and yellow eyed penguins up very close!
Got soaked on a boat around Milford Sound (in the rain and also because the boat went v close to amazing waterfalls)
Saw Hagley Park in Christchurch! (how exciting, its like being home again!)

Ok, so it doesn't sound that thrilling from that list but honestly we have had an amazing time! we have done so much and seen so much of New Zealand, i feel like we have been here a lot longer than a month!
Anyway, we promise to be much better at blogging for the rest of the trip (well, maybe)

Now we are off to wander about in the lovely Christchurch sunshine (we havn't had much for the last few weeks, NZ is suprisingly nippy at times!)

Love to all of you, home in a month! crazy!
love Jodi and Stu xxx